'Flight Risk' Review: Does a game cast make a B-movie feast enjoyable?

Mel Gibson's latest directorial effort is ludicrous but knows it.

A movie’s intent is everything. Are we going for enjoyable, powerful, laughter-inducing, or a mix of feelings? Illogical movies can work if they understand the purpose of their existence. Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk features three central characters with a simple dilemma that requires much realism and deactivation of plausible thinking from the audience. In other words, what 75% of action-related flicks in the 1990s needed before the room went dark.

This is all to preface the point that Gibson’s latest isn’t his finest moment behind the camera but can be enjoyed with the right expectations. Namely, the January release date for a movie previewed in early 2024 should curtail any ideas that this will turn out to be the wondrous return of cinema. In a loud world, something simplistic that keeps you interested can be a desirable dish.

Mark Wahlberg plays a chatty, loony cold-blooded psycho pitted against Michelle Dockery’s U.S. Marshall and Topher Grace’s fugitive-turned-witness on a shitty plane hustling across the frozen skies of Alaska back to states for a key trial. There’s a deadline to get him to the courthouse, one that Wahlberg’s pilot is determined to see them miss. The rest of the running time is a battle of wills between Dockery’s Madeline and the forces at work against her, both physical (a killer) and mental (her last witness trip wasn’t a good one).

Does it work? With some cinematic duct tape, it does create a suspenseful enough environment for the actors to elevate mediocre material. We don’t get to see Wahlberg have fun like this in even half of his recent roles. The man is underrated and can play in three genres, but does sleepwalk through certain movies and can look bored. Here, playing a Mafia hitman working a down south accent tasked with disrupting the trip, there’s a twinkle in his eye that brings out some rage and humor.

The whole cast is game and knows their role. Dockery’s work gets better as the runtime persists. She gets to unleash some primal rage on Wahlberg that should get an ATTAGIRL from females. Grace does what he does best and works the audience over with his rapid-fire neurotic delivery. Everyone takes what’s given in the script and makes it better, but does it all add up to a worthy experience?

Part of me expected more out of a Gibson feature, especially when looking at his resume. With a better script that doesn’t shop at the cliche market so often, the production would have produced a better result than a fast food cheeseburger. Then again, a bare-boned thriller has its uses just like drive-through food.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the deal. This is B-movie territory, elevated by good actors who understood the task at hand. Don’t go in expecting too much from a movie that produces just enough thrills and carries enough of a one-track mind to match its brainless screenplay.

It’s not a remake. It won’t get a sequel. Lower your expectations and enjoy your Wahlberger value meal.